Method of forming sticks or ribbons of chewing gum or the like



May 2, 1939. FgA, GARBUTT METHOD OF' FORMINGSTICKS OR RIBBONS OF CHEWING GUM OR THE LIKE Filed Dec. 28, 1936 4 Sheecs-Sheet IN VEN TOR HMNK A. A/ a UT r A 7` TUR/wir F. A. GARBUTT May 2, 1939.

METHOD OF FORMING STICKS OR RIBBONS OF CHEWING GUM OR THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 28, ;1936

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A 7'7'ORNEX May 2, 1939. F. A. GARBUTT METHOD OF FORMING STICKS OR RIBBONS OF CHEWING GUM OR THE LIKE Filed Dec. 28, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 [N VENTOR FRANK 4. ama/rr A rromvx May 2, 1939. F. A. GARUTT 2,156,810

METHOD OF FORMING STICKS OR RIBBONS OF CHEWING GUM OR THE LIKE Filed Dec. 28, 1936 -4 Sheets-Sheet 4 //v VEN TOR FRANK ,4. GARBUTT ,4 TTORNEX Patented May 2, 1939 w UNITEDSTATES PATENTOFFICE W METHOD OF FORMING STICKS OR RIBONS OF CBEWING GUM OR THE LIKE Frank A. Ga-butt, Los Angeles, Callt.

l Application December 28, 1936, Serial No( 7,932

11 Claims.

tion is capable of a relatively broad utility, its

present principal use is for the manufacture of I sticks of` chewing gum, and accordingly it is believed that the invention may be best disclosed in' onjunction with this selected use. The practic `of making chewing gum is at present to roll the prepared gum into sheets of desiredthickness and then to cut 'such sheets to stick form.

i It is an object of my invention to provide a i method of forming sticks of chewing gum in a cheaperand accordingly more eflicient manner than is possible by use of accepted practices.

` It it an object of my invention to provide a method wherein the gum, heated to plastic condition, is quickly formed into a continuous strip o consisting of consecutive sticks or wafers joined together by a thin web or wall of the gum so that n such strip may be readilybroken up into gum j sticks of uniform size.

It is an object of my invention to provide a "method in which chewing gum of the chicle type i v can be formed into sticks between metal suriaces under conditions that insure the formation of perfect sticks without causing the gum to adhere to these surfaces. y y

The term gum of the chicle type" is used to denote' the ordinary chewing gum of commerce which is compounded from chicle or chicle substitutes and various other'substances. such gum is plastic at mouth temperatures and higher temperatures, but when in a highly plastic condition is highly adhesive, sticking to all sorts of surfaces i against which it is pressed. e

In the methods now used in the manufacture of chewing gum, the 'gum from the mixer is cooled to room temperature, and portions thereof are then rolled into sheets between rolls under light pressures, powdered sugar being employed to reduce the iability of sticking. I have discovered thatchewing gum can be formed directly into any desired shane without using sugar or other dust-` ing agent, ir the gum is quite plastic and the forming surfaces are quite cold. In practice I prefer to feed the gum to the forming means at atemperature somewhat above 100 F. and to maintain the-forming means at a temperature well below 32" F. and preierably considerably colder. I also perform the forming operation with sumcient rapidity to prevent the gum from hardening due to its being cooled by the cold 65 forming means during the forming operation to a suiiicient degree for the plasticity of the gum to be reduced to a sufllcient degree to necessitate high pressures being exerted thereon.

If the forming means are maintained at low temperatures in contact with the atmosphere, moisture will condense on the surfaces thereof and the fine particles of water so condensed will freeze forming "frost" which is undesirable. It is a further. object of my invention to prevent this frost formation by surrounding the forming means with dry air. i i n i n Further objects and advantages of the invention ;will be made evident throughout the !ollowing part of the specification.

` A furtherobject is to provide a simple means for applying liquid to the gum forming means so that said means may be operated under adverse humidity conditions. 4

This` application is a continuation-in-part oi! my application Serial No. '723,111 !or "Method and apparatus for forming gum sticks", filed April 30, 1934.

Referring to the drawings, which are tor illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is an end view of a preferred form of m invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on a plane represented by the line 2--2 oi' Fig. 1. i i

Fig. 3 is an enlargedsection taken as indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the means for adjusting the forming rolls.

Fig. 4 is a ragmentary view showing' the engaging portions of the rolls and the manner of their adjustment.

i Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the manner in which the plastic material is formed into bodies of desired shape.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the forming means showing the method of applying liquid thei-eto.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of an alternate form of forming means.

In the form of the invention shown in the drawings I prefer to employinsulated walls ID, ll, !2, and !3 forming a chamber M adapted to be refrigerated by use of cooling coils li; The cooling coils 15 are maintained at a temperature considerably below i that of the forming means so that any moisture in the air collects and freezes thereon, thus drying the air to a point at which no moisture will condense on the forming means. The coils IS are, of course, merely a convenient means for insuring a supply of dry air around the forming means and any other means may be used for this purpose.

The coils !5 may be placed outside the chamber |4 in a separate chamber in open communication with the chamber |4, or the air may be dried by any other convenient means. I

The chamber |4 has, as shown in Fig. 2, front and rear end walls IC and l1, and the wall |1 is provided with openings. s and through which upper and low'er hollow sh'afts 2l and 22 project. The outer ends of the shafts 2| and 22 are carriedin"bearings 22 which are supported by an outer bracket 24 supported on a base plate 25 .which may be' carried on sleepers 26 formed o! I-beams. The inner ends of the shaits 2l and 22 are carried in bearings 21 sup-` ported in a bracket 24 carried by a base plate 30 which may be supported on I-beams Il. shafts are linked together so as to rotate at the same rate of speed, but in opposite directions, by spur gears 32 and 33 which are secured respectively upon the shafts 2l and 22 by means of keys 24, and both shafts may be driven by use of an electric motor 35 so connected as to drive through a pinion 36, Fig. 1, a spur gear 01 mounted upon the shait 22. 'The leftward or inner end of each shaft 2l and 22, Fig. 2, carries a flange or plate 40 thereon, and to these plates 40 upper and lower forming members 4| and 42 are secured by means of cap screws 40a. The !orming members 4| and 42 each include a circular wall 43 mounted upon a stub shaft 44, a peripheral wall 45 extending rightwardly from the edge 'of the wall 43, and an annular wall 46 extending radially lnwardly from the rightward end of the peripheral wall 45 to receive theflcap screws 40a. The stub shafts 44 are mounted in' bearings 21a carried by a bracket na which is also mounted upon the base plate 30.

By use of the structure above described, the forming members 4l and 42 are each provided with an interior chamber 46a with which communication is made through the bores 41 of the hollow shafts 2l. and 22. The outer end of each shaft 2l and 22 is providedwith a gland or equivalent packing device 49 into which a tube 50 extends, there being a stationary fitting 5l secured to the outer end of each tube 50. Each iitting 5l is provided with a forward chamber 52- communicating with the outer end of the tube 50 associated therewith, and an outer chamber 53 having an axial threaded opening 54 into which a delivery pipe 55 may be screwed. Each delivery pipe 55 extends through the bore 41 of a hollow shaft 2l or 22 and has the discharge end 56 thereof bent upwardly within the chamber 46a of a forming member 4i or 42. Through conduits 51 a suitable refrigerant is delivered into the chambers 53 of the fittings 5| and is' conducted rrom the chambers 53 through the pipes 55 into the upper portions of the spaces 46a within the forming members 4l and 42. The refrigerant is discharged from the spaces 46a through openings' 60 in plates 6| provided at the inner ends of the hollow shafts 2l and 22 i'or supporting the inner or leitward ends of the pipes 55. The discharged refrigerant pas'ses rightwardly through the bores 41 around the pipes 55, and through the tubes 50 to the chambers 52 of the flttings 5l, and is returned therefrom to the refrig'erating apparatus through conduits 62 which lead outwardly from the chambers 52.

'As best shown in Fig. 5, the external faces of the peripheral walls 45 of the forming members 4l and 42 are provided with relatively short helical faces 65 separated by radial walls 66', giving the forming members a ratchet tooth The V form. In the form o! the invention shown, the walls 65 are shown faced in anti-clockwise direction so that the walls 66 at the lower portion of the upper forming member 4| will face 'rightwardly in opposition to the walls 66 which are faced leftwardly at the upper portion oi the lower forming member 42.

As shown best in Fig. 3, the cap screws 40a extend through circulariy elongated openings 66 in the' flange plates 40 so that the walls 46 of the forming members 4l and 42 may have limited rotation relative to the plates 40, and means for rotatve adjustment of the iorming members are provided in the form of lugs 10 which extend outwardly from the walls 46 of the forming members 4I and 42 into spaces between approximately radial lugs 1| on the flat plates 40. Adjustment screws 12 project in tangential direction through .the lugs 1l into engagement with opposite sides of the lugs 10. By use of these screws 12 the lugs 10 may be moved back and forth through limited distances and thereby rotate the forming members 4l and 42 so as to change the alignment of the walls 66 of the respective forming members 4| and 42. The forming members are so spaced apart' that a plastic material 13 fed therebetween will be shaped or formed into thin wafers between !the cooperating helical walls 65 of the members 4! and 42.

Referring to Fig. 5, lt will be recognized that if the forming member 4l were rotated by use oi the adjustment means 10 in clockwise direction, the radial walls 66 designated specifically as 66a and 66b could be brought into engagement so that each wafer formed between cooperating helical faces 65 would be cut off or separated from the wafers adjacent thereto. I prefer, however, to so adjust the forming members 4l and 42 that a slight space will be left between cooperating radiai walls 66, as clearly demonstrated by the walls 66a and 66b, in order that a thin web or wall 15 of the plastic material will connect each wafer 14 with the wafer adjacent thereto, thereby producing a continuous formed strip 16 comprising adjacent wafers joined together by thin and relatively easily ruptured connecting webs 15.

On opposite sides of the plane of cooperation of the forming members 4| and 42, side wall members 11 are disposed so as to define the edges the members 4| and 42. These side wall members 11 cooperate with walls 18 in forming chamber members 19 which are supported in the brakets 28 and 29a in the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These chamber members 19 have inlet and discharge pipes 8! and 82 connected thereinto for the circulation of a refrigerant to cool the wall members 11.

The saw teeth of the forming members 4| and 42 are of such a shape as to readily form the gum sticks. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that other forms of surface may be used on the forming members and still produce the desired result. For example, the forming means may have the general form shown in Fig. 'I in which 4la and 42a are the forming means which are formed with bands 205 separated by spaces 206. The gum is then formed as shown at 201 into a strip having oi'fset sticks 208 and 209 connected by thin septums 2|0. Other shapes of forming means will readily occur to one skilled in the art.

A feature of the invention is that the forming means is provided with walls subjected to a of the wafers formed between the faces 65 of refrigerant so` that they will be maintained at a low temperature suflicient to prevent the gum from sticking thereto and to cause solidiflcation l of the plastic material as the result of engagement with the forming walls. The plastic material 13; that is, the warm chewing gum, may be fed into the forming means, as shown in Fig. 5,

at a temperature of around 160 F. At this temperature the mixture is very pliable and easily formed so that as the rotation of the members 4| and 42 in the directions indicated by the arrows 84 draws the gum into the space between the members 4l and 42, the gum will readily fiatten out to fill the space between the upper and lower faces 65 and the side wall members ll. The refrigerant maintains the walls 45 of the forming means and also the walls 'IT at a temperature below freezing point, the result being that the heated and consequently plastic gum does not stick and is sufilciently cooled to such a condition that as the strip 16 is carried forwardly, the wafers 14 will maintain their respective forms. Disposed below the forming member 42 is a conveyor belt 86 carried over pulleys 81, one of which is adapted to be driven through a shaft 88 and a bevel gear BD from a bevel gear 9! mounted on the shaft 92 which carries the drive pinion 35. The upper portion of the belt 86, moving to the left as indicated by the arrow 53, carries the strip 16 through an opening 94 in the "wall Ill of the chamber |4 to a suitable disposal for the strip 16. During the movement of the strip 'IE by the conveyor belt 86, it is subjected to the low temper-ature maintained in the chamber |4 by the refrigerating coils |5, the result being that when it issues from the opening 94 of the chamber |4 it will be in thoroughly hardened and easily handled condition. 4

While the apparatus above described operates perfectly if the formirg means are properly cooled and proper degrees of humidity and temperature are maintained in the space surrounding the forming means, it will be found that if it is dinicult to maintain these conditions the operation of the process and apparatus described will be facilitated if a liquid is applied to the surface of the forming means. This can be conveniently i done by the means shown in Fig. 6 in which 4| and 42 are the forming means. Small containers 200 and 20| are placed adjacent the forming rolls and kept filled with a suitable liquid such as grain alcohol. This alcohol is delivered slowly through wicks 202 and 203 to the surface of the forming means 4| and 42 to form a thin film thereon. Alcohol will not solidify at the temperature maintained in. the forming means and later readily evaporates from the surface of the formed sticks.

The invention also includes means for heating the plastic material and delivering the plastic material to the forming means at a suitable temperature. In Figs. 1 and I show a passage member 55 preferably formed of metal and projecting downwardly at an angle through the insulated wall o of the chamber l4. This passage member 95, which is of tubular form, has rollers 95 in the lower portion thereof along which bodies 91 of the warm gum may travel toward a horizontally directed opening 98 into a feed spout 99 adapted to direct the gum into the space between the upper and lower forming members 4| and 42. surrounding the feed or deliver member 95 is a wall forming a space or jacket o into which a heating fluid, such as steam, may be delivered through inlet piping !02, to be later discharged through outlet piping !03. Around the heated members of the device, for example, the walls IIII and the piping "12 and !03, a suitable wall of insulating material Ils is placed. 'Ihe passage IDE within the member 95 is maintained at a constant temperature, and if the gum upon delivery into the upper end of the passage los is not sufliciently heated, its temperature will be raised to proper point as it moves downwardly along the rolis 96 to the forming means. In the ordinary practice of the invention, however, the gum is prepared and heated prior to its delivery into the passage !05 so that the function of the passage is then merely to maintain the gum at its desired temperature and direct the same into the forming or molding device.

It will be understood that the gum is delivered to the forming members 41 and 42 at a temperature at which it is thoroughly plastic; for example, 160 F., and at which it can be caused to flow into its final shape and be formed into sticks by the application of very little pressure. The members 4l 'and 42 are quite cold; infact, they may be at a temperature of minus 20 F. Due to this low temperature and the low pressure required to form the warm gum the gum is formed into sticks or wafers without adhering to the members 4| and 42. The outer surface of the gum is cooled by the cold surfaces of the rolis 4l and 42 so that the wafers 'IE will hold their shape until they are cooled by the air surrounding the apparatus. At the low temperature at which it issues from the machine disclosed,

the gum may be readily broken up along the i lines of division into separate sticks, this being done before the temperature of the gum has risen to room temperature.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of producing a ribbon of chewing gum which comprises: heating said gum to a plastic condition; forcing a portion of the plastie mass so produced between forming means to give it the desired shape; and maintaining the temperature of the surface of said forming means at a sumciently low temperature to prevent the gum from adhering to said forming means without the application of sugar or other powdered material to the surface of the mass or to the forming means.

2. A method of producing a ribbon of chewing gum which comprises: heating said gum to a plasti condition; forcing a portion of the plastic mass so produced between forming means to give it the desired shape; applying a thin film of a suitable liquid to the surfaces of said formng means; and maintaining the temperature of the surface of said orming means at a sumciently low temperature to prevent the gum from adhering to said forming means.

3. A method of forming chewing gum and the like by a molding means, said method comprising: cooling the molding means substartially below room temperature; heating the gum to be molded to a plastic state; and applying the cooled molding means to the plastic gum without the application of sugar or other powdered material to the gum or to the molding means.

4. A method of forming chewing gum and the like by a molding means, said method comprising: cooling the molding means substantially below room temperature; heating the gum to be molded to a plastic state; applying to the surface of the molding means a film of a liqnd having a freezing point substantially below the temperature of the molding means; and then app ying the molding means to the plastic zum.

5. A method of employing a molding' means to form chewing sum and the like, said method comprising: cooling the molding means substantially below room temperature: dehydrating the atmosphere in the vicinity of the molding. means to prevent condensation of moisture thereon; heating the gum to be molded to a. plastic state and applying the cooled molding means to the plastic zum without the application of sugar or other powdered material to the sum or to the molding means.

6. A method as described in claim 5 in which the molding means is refrigerated to a temperature below 32 F.

7. A method oi' employing a molding means to form cl'ewing zum and the like. said method comprlsing: cooling the molding means mbetentially below room temperature; dehydrating the atmosphere in the vicinity of the molding means to prevent condensation of moisture thereon; heating the gum to be molded to a plastic state; applying to the surface of the molding means a film of a liquid having a freezing point substantially below the temperature of the molding means; and 'applying the cooled molding means to the plastic gum 8. A method of producing chewing gum sticks characterized by the steps of: forming a plastic mass of zum into a continuous series of successively oifset sticks intercounected by lateral septum:: cooling the intereonnected sticks to hardness; and then breaking the septum.

9. A method of producinc che'wlnz zum sticks that is charaeterized by the steps of: i'o'ins a plastic mass of zum into a continuous series of sticks interconnected' at overlapping margins: cooling the interconnected sticks to hardness; and then breaking the sticks apart.

10. A method of for-mins chewing zum or the like by a molding means, said method comprising: delivering the zum to the molding means at a temperature sumciently high to make the gum plastic; and maintaining the molding means at a temperature sufilciently below that of the gum so delivered to permit the sum to be formed into sticks without adding' sugar or other powdered material to the surface of the gum or to the surface of the m'olding means. I

11. A method of formin; chewing sum or the like by a molding means, said method comprising: delivering the sum to the molding means at a temperature sumciently high to make the zum plastic; maintaining the molding means at a temperature suflcienty below th'at of the gum so delivered to permit the gum to be formed into sticks without adding sugar or other powdered material to the surface of the zum or to the surface of the molding means; and maintaining the humidlty of the atmosphere surrounding the moldlng means at a sumciently low value to prevent moisture from eondensing on said molding means.

FRANK A. GARBU'I'I'. 

